Three corporate transportation operations were honored with 2025 FleetOwner Private Fleet of the Year awards. Their leaders share their secrets to success.
32 Shifting truck classes
Sometimes operations or economics call for a shift in equipment classes. Here’s what to consider if you’re thinking about changing classes.
42 Improving your routes
More data than ever before is coming o trucks. We spoke to some experts about how you can use it to deliver better routing and refine your operations.
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Our new market-driven movement
What a difference a year makes: Decarbonization has new push (and pull) [ Lane Shift Ahead ]
By Josh Fisher Editor in Chief
@TrucksAtWork
This pause on the race to EV adoption allows fleets to ponder another question: Can trucking become more sustainable while matching the operational efficiency achieved over the past century?
OVER THE PAST DECADE, the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo has ballooned into the largest gathering of commercial vehicle users and suppliers as a growing number of legacy and startup OEMs have used the event to launch new trucks and technologies. This year’s attendance didn’t break any records—it still topped 10,000.
Enthusiasm for battery-electric vehicles has turned to skepticism amid the costly and complex reality of adopting ZEVs, shifting political winds, and weakening regulations. Are fleets still interested in clean technologies?
The short answer, like the technology, is that it’s complicated. The longer answer is that OEMs and suppliers are still trying to figure out how to make this shift worth it. But the deregulation coming from Washington, most recently with the revoking of California’s EPA waiver and ability to supersede federal emissions regs, is giving fleets and suppliers a chance to reset and rethink.
This pause on the race to EV adoption allows fleets to ponder another question: Can trucking become more sustainable while matching the operational efficiency achieved over the past century? The good news for all of us now is that the market can help decide the future, rather than regulators who have never been inside a truck.
After previously focusing on BEVs and to a lesser extent, fuel cells, this year’s ACT Expo was all about fleets diversifying their powertrain portfolio. As Jennifer Rumsey, Cummins’ chief executive, put it in her opening keynote address: “All fuels and technologies are back on the menu.”
Lars Stenqvist, Volvo Group’s EVP, projected that by 2040 most commercial vehicles will be powered by three parallel powertrain technologies: battery electric, fuel cell electric, and internal combustion engines running on natural gas or renewable fuels.
While there were more alt fuels—biodiesel, RNG, hydrogen—and powertrains
on display at ACT than in past years, OEMs are still pushing the battery-electric trucks they’ve been developing since before President Trump returned to office with plans to squash the green energy movement.
These OEMs can’t shift their long-term plans every time American voters put a new party in the White House. Most have their own long-term decarbonization plans. (Three of the four parent companies that sell 99% of U.S. Class 8 trucks are based in Europe, where there’s more appetite for ZE technology.)
The best answer to decarbonization continues to be: Prove it.
National school bus company First Student is succeeding with EVs, deploying 450 so far with plans to reach 30,000 by 2035. Like final-mile and regional trucking operations, school buses use return-to-base routes, ideal for BEV charging.
The Cummins X15 natural gas engine is gaining popularity along with natural gas infrastructure. While regulators ignored nearzero technology like RNG and biodiesel in the past, the deregulation movement opens up its inclusion in future regulations. Particularly now that California is being forced to revisit how it tries to control transportation. Other solutions, such as electric yard tractors, are taking off in fleet operations. Companies like Orange EV are showing that there are actual segments where BEV outshines ICE, such as school buses and last-mile operations.
The transportation industry’s transition is still trying to balance the ambitious goals of the last decade with the economic and infrastructure realities of today. The good news is, we deserve this more pragmatic approach that can be defined by market realities, instead of regulators’ fantasies.
As Rumsey noted on the ACT Expo main stage: “We don’t want to let perfect be the enemy of good.” FO
Where the industry sits with tariffs
Negative outlooks amid a hostile trade environment
by Jeremy Wolfe
Tariffs are one of the most significant—and unpredictable—developments for the U.S. economy in 2025. From confused rhetoric to dramatic flipflops, President Donald Trump’s trade war is threatening and opaque.
Trade tensions between the U.S. and China temporarily cooled down on May 12, when Trump lowered broader tariffs from roughly 145% to 30%. The reduction only lasts 90 days until August 12, when it would be replaced by another deal or further escalations. Trump also reached a minor deal with the United Kingdom, reducing tariffs on some imports of automobiles and metals.
Despite these deals, the U.S.’s global trade environment is still more hostile than it was a year ago. The most significant tariff policies in effect as of late May are as follows:
• Most imports today face a baseline 10% ad valorem fee.
• Many automobile and auto parts imports (for passenger vehicles and light trucks) face a 25% tariff.
• Many aluminum and steel imports, including a wide range of derivative products, face 25% tariffs.
Canada and China responded to the trade barriers with similar measures against U.S. exports:
• Canada introduced 25% tariffs on U.S. vehicles and at least $60 billion worth of other U.S. exports.
• China maintained a 10% baseline ad valorem tariff on U.S. goods as well as 15% tariffs on many agricultural and energy products.
The duties mean significant costs for U.S. companies and consumers, raising inflation and broadly reducing demand.
Trade tomorrow
Despite the harsh environment, the administration could still raise tariffs for certain countries or industries.
Notable reciprocal tariffs announced in early April included a 20% duty on imports from the European Union, 46% on Vietnam, 24% on Japan, 26% on South Korea, and more. The EU threatened significant tariffs against U.S. goods if Trump’s reciprocal tariffs take effect.
The Trump administration may also follow its previous threats to issue tariffs on aircrafts, copper, electronics, lumber, movies, oil, pharmaceuticals, minerals, and heavy-duty trucks and truck parts.
But anything is possible with the current state of tariff uncertainty.
Grim predictions
Industry analysts shared negative predictions for the impacts of tariffs on freight demand and pricing.
DAT Freight & Analytics predicted tariffs’ economic distortions will disrupt capacity and weaken carriers’ pricing for at least several months. FTR Transportation Intelligence in May predicted an overall negative impact from tariffs, forecasting volumes imported from Asia will decline into 2026 while truck prices will likely rise. Class 8 truck demand plummeted following Trump’s early April tariff announcements, FTR noted: New truck orders in April reached their lowest counts since May 2020.
The Port of Los Angeles predicted a significant pullback on global trade for 2025, leading to lower container volumes, reduced consumer demand, and widespread layoffs.
Meanwhile, the industry’s largest public companies have either scrapped or reduced their earnings predictions during their first-quarter earnings reports. Some companies that lowered their predictions included FedEx, Knight Swift Transportation, Volvo Group, and General Motors. Companies that gave up sharing forecasts altogether included UPS, Cummins, Ford, and more.
Many macroeconomic trends are projecting doom and gloom for 2025 and beyond: The Federal Reserve is making fewer rate cuts; the country’s credit rating fell to a historic low; and consumer confidence is at a near-record low.
Though uncertainty and pessimism abound, many parts of for-hire trucking remained healthy throughout April, including freight demand and spot market pricing. However, DAT and FTR analysts warned that many of those boons may be from temporary tariff disruptions, including a rush to build inventory.
For regular updates on tariffs and how they impact our industry, visit fleetowner.com/tariffs. FO
FTR’s spring 2025 forecast included predicted effects from the widespread tariffs that the Trump Administration has enacted across the globe.
Photo: 363847828 | Andrew Angelov | Dreamstime
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Tariffs cause some OEMs, carriers to forego forecasting
Earnings forecasts and guidance are normal for public companies. They allow companies to share quarterly or yearly expectations with shareholders. However, major companies across the U.S. economy are now scrapping or reducing their earnings forecasts.
The nation’s three largest fleets either scrapped or reduced their market predictions.
FedEx (No. 1 on the FleetOwner 500: For-Hire) in March reduced its revenue outlook from “approximately flat” to “flat to slightly down” year over year. UPS (No. 2 on the FO500: For-Hire) announced it is not updating its 2025 guidance. Knight-Swift Transportation (No. 3 on the FO500: For-Hire) shortened its guidance length, moving from two quarters of guidance on volumes and profits to only forecasting the second quarter. Several automotive manufacturers made similar announcements in their earnings reports:
• Cummins withdrew its full-year guidance, citing “growing economic uncertainty driven by tariffs.”
• General Motors reduced its earnings guidance from January, stating that it expects a tariff exposure of up to $5 billion.
• Ford Motor Company suspended its guidance, blaming “tariff-related uncertainty.”
• Volvo Group, parent of Volvo Trucks North America, in late April reduced its annual sales forecast for North America, from a previous “-10% to 0%” unit sale growth prediction to “-15% to -5%.”
• Volvo Cars, a passenger vehicle manufacturer independent from Volvo Group, declined to provide financial guidance for 2025 or 2026, vaguely citing “external developments and increased uncertainty.”
• Stellantis suspended its annual guidance “due to tariff-related uncertainties.”
• Mercedes-Benz largely cut its forecasts, noting only that its outlook has broadly worsened.
Daimler drops Freightliner, Western Star sales expectations
Daimler Truck leaders lowered their North American sales forecast by more than 10%. The global truck maker with the best-selling Class 8 truck in the U.S. has managed the tough 2025 OEM market by suspending production for short bursts rather than laying off workers.
CFO Eva Scherer said the company hasn’t made any significant changes across its North American factory footprint this year in response to tariffs or weak demand. She spoke to analysts after Daimler, the parent of North American OEMs Freightliner and Western Star (along with Mercedes-Benz Trucks and others globally), reported first-quarter results. (Competitor Volvo Group is laying off hundreds of workers at its U.S. operations.)
However, Daimler executives now expect to sell 155,000 to 175,000 units this year, down from their previous outlook of 180,000 to 200,000. (Daimler sold 191,000 units in North America last year.) They’ve also taken down their forecast for the North American heavy-duty market to about 275,000 units from 300,000 units.
In the first three months of this year, Daimler Truck North America sold 38,992 units versus 46,229 in early
2024. That translated into revenues of about $6.0 billion and earnings before interest and taxes of roughly $860 million—the latter being 7% higher year over year despite sales slipping by roughly the same amount.
DOL shuns Biden’s independent contractor rule
The U.S. Department of Labor is once again changing how it defines independent contractors: For issues around the Fair Labor Standards Act, DOL said it will no longer use the Biden-era 2024 interpretive rule to define independent contractors under its own investigations.
Donald Harrison, DOL’s Wage and Hour Division acting administrator, announced the change in a public bulletin on May 1.
“WHD will no longer apply the 2024 rule’s analysis when determining employee versus contractor status in FLSA investigations,” Harrison said. However, he noted that the rule remains in effect for private litigation. Independent contractor definitions under FLSA have endured messy changes since 2020. Donald Trump’s first administration tried to change DOL’s interpretation of independent contractors, moving away from judicial precedent in favor of a simpler rule that tended toward independent contractors. The Biden administration’s DOL canceled that rule, later issuing its own interpretation of independent contractors that was closer to judicial precedent.
ATRI unveils key research priorities for 2025
The American Transportation Research Institute Board of Directors approved its 2025 Top Research Priorities during its annual meeting in March before announcing the details in late April.
ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee selected the priorities designed to address some critical issues. Its top
Photo: Daimler Truck Holding AG
research priorities for 2025 are:
• Rising insurance costs and self-insurance motivations
• Efficacy of entry-level driver training on safety outcomes
• Safety impacts of in-cab monitoring
• Capitalizing on telematics data
• Understanding the prevalence and impact of cabotage violations
Crackdown on non-English speaking CMV drivers
President Donald Trump signed an executive order that calls for stronger enforcement of English language requirements for commercial motor vehicle drivers.
The April 28 order calls for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to:
• Revise its commercial driver qualification standards.
• Review non-domiciled CDLs for irregularities.
• Improve the Department of Transportation’s driving credential verification. Previous FMCSA standards included English proficiency as a standard for commercial vehicle operation, but enforcers rarely interpreted the rule to be out-of-service criteria. Over the last four years of FMCSA roadside inspections, poor English proficiency
accounted for only 0.16% of all inspection violations.
Three days after the order, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance added English language proficiency to its outof-service criteria. The move by the nonprofit directs inspectors to prohibit drivers who cannot “speak the English language sufficiently” from operating a
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commercial motor vehicle. Since 2014, CVSA has directed inspectors not to place drivers out of service exclusively for their English proficiency.
President Trump’s order came one month after the American Trucking Associations officially voiced support for a crackdown on the illegal use of foreign truck drivers.
New Shell Card targets TCO, security
With a focus on saving money for fleet managers, Shell Fleet Solutions highlighted its new and improved Shell Card at the NAFA Institute & Expo 2025. Featuring Shell Card Business and Shell Card Business Flex, the new cards come with a host of benefits to provide convenience for drivers on the road and managers at the desk. Features include fuel rebates, payment flexibility, access to loyalty offerings, maintenance discounts, and more.
The Shell Card supports fleets with three pillars, Mohamad Kabbani, head of Shell Fleet Solutions U.S., explained to FleetOwner from the Shell booth at the show. “We’re aiming, basically, to lower their total cost of ownership,” Kabbani emphasized. “We’re improving their efficiencies to help them manage their fleets better, and we’re enhancing their security.”
Indeed, savings, security, and electrification are among the biggest concerns for fleet operators, and the new card program addresses all three.
How FMCSA’s new registrant identity verification works
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is taking major strides in 2025 to improve its registration processes and reduce fraud. The agency is implementing an identity verification process and developing a new, unified registration platform.
“Fraud is coming at this industry from every angle,” Kenneth Riddle, director of FMCSA’s Office of Registration
and Safety Information, said during a registration update webinar hosted by the Truckload Carriers Association. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s the insurance lane, the process agent lane, a carrier, a broker. Fraud is rampant.”
The Unified Registration System (URS) was FMCSA’s decades-long attempt to develop a unified online registration system. The agency suspended its work on URS in 2017 during early rollout; the system today only supports first-time applicants. Existing applicants have been stuck with older, separate forms and platforms to manage their information.
Soon, FMCSA will implement a new system—which it now calls Motus—to provide a smooth, intuitive platform for new and existing applicants. The agency is also implementing a new identity verification process to crack down on fraud.
“I’m very excited about the new system. It can’t come fast enough,” Riddle said. “We want to get it right, and we want it to be intuitive—not like the systems we have today.”
FMCSA has added a new identity verification process in URS, requiring all new applicants to prove their identity before receiving a USDOT number. The process went live on URS in early April. In order to verify their identity, registrants need two things: an appropriate identifying document (e.g., driver’s license, passport) and an electronic device for facial recognition.
The verification then takes place near the end of the URS registration process before payment. Registrants will scan a QR code in URS to go to a platform hosted by IDEMIA. There, the registrant scans their identifying document and scans their face to complete their identity verification. IDEMIA checks the validity of the documents and ensures the face matches the document.
To execute the program, FMCSA is contracting with IDEMIA, the same company that provides the technology for all TSA checkpoints. FO
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PRIVATE FLEETS OF THE YEAR
Meet the 2025 FleetOwner
Private Fleet of the Year
winners: Marathon Petroleum’s reliable deliveries, Brakebush Transportation’s driver-focused culture, and Occidental Chemical’s safety excellence. by Josh Fisher
Three private fleets were honored for their stellar transportation operations during the National Private Truck Council’s annual conference in May.
Marathon Petroleum, which ranks No. 211 on the FO500: Private, won the FleetOwner 500 Private Fleet of the Year. Brakebush Transportation was named the Midsize FleetOwner Private Fleet of the Year. Occidental Chemical won the Small Carrier FleetOwner Private Fleet of the Year. The awards are sponsored by Descartes.
“Descartes is extremely proud to help FleetOwner shine a light on these private carriers that embody the spirit of our trucking industry,” Cyndi Brandt, VP of fleet solutions for Descartes, said. “These fleets are early adopters of technology, operate very safely and efficiently, and give back to the communities in which they reside. These attributes align with Descartes’ primary mission of supplying best-in-class technology solutions to our fleet customers.”
The FleetOwner Private Fleet of the Year awards, sponsored by Descartes, were presented during NPTC 2025 in Orlando, Florida, on May 13. Pictured, from left: Cyndi Brandt of Descartes; Kevin Crowder of Occidental Chemical; Mike Schwersenska, Norlene Gray, and Chris Armstrong of Brakebush Transportation; Katie Zalat and Jocko Langlois of Marathon Petroleum; and Josh Fisher of
About the 2025 FleetOwner
Private Fleets of the Year
FleetOwner 500 winner:
Marathon Petroleum
Marathon Petroleum, a nationwide downstream energy company with the nation’s largest refining system, has more than 500 power units operating nationwide in its private fleet with nearly 1,200 company drivers (including Donald “Todd” Young, who was inducted into the NPTC Driver Hall of Fame during the conference) who haul tankers of gasoline, diesel, crude, and renewable fuels.
Katie Zalat, west transport operations director, and Jocko Langlois, east transport operations director, accepted the award on behalf of Marathon. Several fleet executives shared their stories on the following pages.
Midsize carrier winner:
Brakebush Transportation
Celebrating 100 years in business, Brakebush Transportation is the dedicated private fleet for family-owned
chicken processor Brakebush, which has five production facilities making high-quality chicken for large and small foodservice kitchens.
Brakebush Transportation team leaders Mike Schwersenska, VP of transportation; Chris Armstrong, fleet manager; and Norlene Gray, HR and safety manager, accepted the award on behalf of the company. A profile on their successes begins on page 20.
Small carrier winner: Occidental Chemical
The small private fleet, known nationally as Oxy, supports its chemical manufacturing parent company, Occidental Chemical. With 32 company drivers, the fleet has only one recorded at-fault accident in the past decade.
“Most importantly, I want to thank my drivers who make it happen,” Kevin Crowder, Oxy’s truck operations manager, said when he accepted the award on behalf of the company. Read more about his private fleet’s operation on page 24. FO
Fueling a winning culture
Marathon Petroleum’s private fleet powers energy company’s reliability by
Josh Fisher
Powered by safety, innovation, and empowered drivers, Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s private fleet is fueling the future. The coast-to-coast tanker operation moves gasoline, diesel, crude, and renewable fuels for the integrated downstream energy company with the nation’s largest refining system.
Marathon Petroleum’s private fleet has more than 500 tractors and trailers. The company, which includes a separate field maintenance and storage operation, ranks No. 211 on the 2025 FleetOwner: Private list of the U.S.’s largest private transportation operations.
Marathon’s 13 refineries can produce three million barrels of crude oil daily and has a growing renewable fuels portfolio. The company’s midstream energy asset network links natural gas producers from some of the nation’s largest supply basins to U.S. and international markets.
“I think there’s a lot of value and benefit with our fleet being able to help with supply disruptions and really help our customers get the supply they need
record and high
rate,
FACTS AND FIGURES:
when they need it,” Katie Zalat, West transport operations director, told FleetOwner during an interview with the fleet’s executive team. “I equate us to a roving pipeline. When there are pipeline disruptions or refinery disruptions, our trucks are very mobile and can go help Marathon.”
Dayna Reid, Ohio Valley transport operations area manager, said the fleet’s logistical strengths shine during natural disasters. “We also help when we have high river levels or during hurricane responses,” she said. “It’s something that they can flex pretty easily into a market to help move product in or out of a market so they can limit the supply constraints.”
Curtis Ayars, director of transport, planning, and scheduling, noted that natural disasters and other supply disruptions impact energy markets.
“Having your own proprietary fleet and the control of that fleet to be able to do things that are most important to you in that moment are beneficial to the company,” he said during the interview. “So we don’t need to compete for
Marathon Petroleum started as the Ohio Oil Company when several small oil companies merged in 1887. It was part of Standard Oil before that company was broken up. Ohio Oil’s Marathon service stations focused on customer service and was the first fuel company to offer a “metal credit plate” to drivers, a precursor of the credit card. Ohio Oil Company rebranded as Marathon Oil Company in 1962. Marathon Petroleum Corporation became a standalone refining, marketing, and transportation company in 2011.
FleetOwner 500: Private: No. 211
Private fleet size: 500+
Private fleet drivers: 1,100+
Headquarters: Findlay, Ohio
Community outreach: Various locations sent 211 volunteers to 40 volunteer events in 2024, and other supported events include Stuff the Bus, Spirit of Freedom 5K, and various charity donations to 14 organizations.
Website: DriveForMPC.com
Driver retention: 85.5%
Delivery reliability rate: 99.75%
Preventable DOT accident rate: 0.14 per million miles
With an exceptional DOT safety
technology adoption
Marathon achieved a 99.75% delivery reliability rate in 2024.
Photo: Marathon Petroleum
resources that may be limited or pulled in multiple directions.”
Driving toward success
The fleet’s leaders credited its more than 1,100 company drivers and supporting maintenance team for fueling its success.
“Them wanting to come to work is a big reliability piece,” Joe Ernst, transportation scheduling manager, said. “We have one of the nicest fleets out there—not only in appearance, but it’s well maintained and safe to drive.”
Those drivers move refinery feedstocks, finished refinery products, and renewable fuels via tanker trucks. The bulk fleet’s products include gasoline, diesel, ethanol, crude, jet fuel, butane, sulfur, asphalt, and waste bin hauling.
Boasting an 85.5% driver retention rate in 2024, Marathon outpaced the private fleet average of 20.2% turnover, according to the NPTC Benchmarking Report. According to Jocko Langlois, East transport operations director, drivers receive top-tier pay and substantial benefits packages.
The fleet also has a rigorous hiring, onboarding, and certification process that helps it ensure its drivers fit the operations. Once they join the team, Marathon offers robust corporate and fleet-specific recognition programs for safe driving.
While Marathon has some long-haul drivers who support product or workforce disruptions, most private fleet drivers operate in day cabs, running 12-hour, slip-seated shifts on regional routes that get them home after work.
Creating a winning culture
Langlois credits company leadership and supervisor training for the high driver satisfaction.
“When we bring new field leaders into the fleet world, we run them through a training process to ensure it’s a fit for both of us,” he said. “We help them learn all the different pieces and parts of the job before they have the full leadership responsibilities.”
Top: Donald “Todd” Young, who was inducted in the NPTC Driver Hall of Fame, has 38 years as a driver and more than 3 million miles with Marathon. Bottom: With its rigorous hiring, onboarding, and certification processes, Marathon ensures that its drivers are suited to the company’s operations.
During that extensive training, incoming field leaders learn Marathon’s various supply processes and procedures while also being exposed to the company’s culture: “How we want them interacting with the drivers,” Langlois explained. “We want them to recognize the employees for the good things they do, and coach them when they need to improve.
“I think if you have a good set of leaders out there, that really helps the drivers want to come to work,” he added.
A lot of that leadership begins with safety, according to Jaki Frantz, Pacific transport operations area manager. “Safety is paramount in our culture,” she told FleetOwner. “If you’re a driver
and your leadership takes your safety seriously—and any feedback you have about the sites you’re delivering at or mechanical issues—we ensure that we address those with priority. We talk about safety on a daily basis, and we stand behind it as well. That’s been one of my favorite things about working at Marathon—it’s not just talk. We actually embody the safety culture.”
Ayars said that all Marathon employees share a safety mission. “No matter who it is—whether it’s a dispatcher in the scheduling center or a driver who’s on the front line—we all support one another regarding safety. We are very committed to ensuring people go home the way they came to work.” FO
Photos: Marathon Petroleum
A century of service
Brakebush Transportation shares some secrets to its success by Josh Fisher
BRAKEBUSH TRANSPORTATION FACTS AND FIGURES:
You commonly hear fleet leaders say they treat their employees like family. At Brakebush Transportation, however, moving chicken has been a family business for a century, setting up drivers and executives for long, successful careers.
As the private fleet for chicken processor Brakebush, the transportation operation stands out for its innovative strategy that led it to grow into a sophisticated network supporting a complex poultry production system.
“We operate in a just-in-time environment,” Mike Schwersenska, Brakebush VP of transportation, told FleetOwner “Our drivers are moving chicken from suppliers to cutting facilities, then to fully cooked facilities, sometimes touching the product three times before it reaches a customer.”
The primarily refrigerated fleet operates in the Lower 48 states, with most long-haul drivers traveling an average 2,200 miles per week. They are
The driver-centric culture, which includes innovative referral bonuses and comprehensive wellness support, is a cornerstone of Brakebush’s success and a key reason it has such an excellent DOT safety record.
Photo: Brakebrush Transportation
supported by 10 local drivers that move products from manufacturing plants to cold storage.
Creating
customer satisfaction
Thanks to a 98% on-time-delivery rate, customer satisfaction is a significant reason why Brakebush uses its private fleet for about 55% to 60% of its outbound and inbound volume, Schwersenska explained. While Brakebush doesn’t have farms, it handles the processing of live birds into finished food products.
“Transportation touches a lot of our supply; that’s why it’s critical for us to make sure we’re on top of everything,” he said. Because if one truck is delayed, it can have ripple effects through the Brakebush supply chain.
Beginning with one truck in 1925, the Brakebush brothers began hauling livestock and poultry to markets in Madison and Milwaukee. As business grew, it began to buy and sell eggs before turning to poultry dressing and freezing as a service for its customers. That one-room egg candling business blossomed into poultry processing. A century later, the company operates five production facilities in the Midwest and South.
Parent company: Brakebush
Private fleet size: 100+
Private fleet drivers: 97
Headquarters: Westfield, Wisconsin
Community outreach: Wreaths Across America annually; in 2024, three Brakebush trailers delivered wreaths to different cemeteries, plus the fleet wrapped two Brakebush trailers with a custom WAA design honoring a local fallen Marine. Local Touch a Truck events; reefer trailer loan donation to local events/festivals. Donated a trailer to the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association to store supplies for the local Truck Driving Championship. Special Olympics Convoy participation. Monetary and chicken donations associated with various state organizations.
Website: BrakebushTransportation.com
On-time delivery rate: 98%
Driver retention: 94%
DOT accident rate: 0.33 per million miles
Brakebush’s nearly 100 company drivers, who are on the customer-service front lines, are a vital link in that supply chain. “They’re not just drivers; they are brand ambassadors,” Schwersenska said. “They’re the faces our customers see.”
Those customers see the same drivers for years, according to Norlene Gray, Brakebush’s human resources and safety manager. The fleet boasts a retention rate of more than 90%. “When we hire drivers, we tell them we’re hiring them to retire them,” she said. “We want the cream of the crop. We want them to stay with us.”
Chris Armstrong, Brakebush’s fleet manager, said that communication is as important as on-time delivery. “You can find a truck anywhere to haul anything, but can you find somebody who’s going to be able to communicate, be reliable, and provide the level of service our customers need?” he asked.
One of the ways the fleet finds and retains good drivers is through an innovative 1-cent-per-mile referral bonus to company drivers. For every mile the referred driver logs in the first year, the referring driver gets a penny.
“Your drivers are ultimately your best reference,” Schwersenska said. “I wanted to invest our recruiting dollars back into the current drivers working for us.”
The recent implementation gives the recommending driver an invested interest in the new driver’s success. “It’s not just about recommending people; it’s about recommending the right people that fit our culture. And it helps encourage them to act as a kind of mentor to that new driver,” Schwersenska explained.
Drivers can also access Brakebush’s wellness center, which offers medical services, counseling, physical therapy, and legal services. Gray credited the company’s Driver Advisory Council for helping executives shape policies and benefits that have helped the fleet keep its turnover rate below 10% annually. This year’s 6% turnover rate included two retirements.
Making safety a priority
With a company-wide focus on safety, Gray said they involve the driver council to get frontline buy-in for technology and safety initiatives that help drivers want to stick with Brakebush. She said the fleet conducts monthly driver safety scorecards tied to safety bonuses.
Armstrong said the fleet’s safety focus is its top priority—from intense maintenance programs, regular equipment refreshes, and a strict adherence to educating drivers on how to comply with regulations. “We have a culture where we expect you to run legal,” he said. If a driver runs out of service hours, Brakebush will send another truck to take over the load, for example.
“We put our money where our mouth is,” Armstrong said. “We’re willing to go
to these lengths to make sure you’re not violating hours of service; we expect you to do the same. We expect the same out of our maintenance team. We don’t cut corners. And we’ve had drivers tell us repeatedly that this is the best equipment they have ever driven.”
Gray said Brakebush is fortunate to be part of a team that works well across several locations. “This sense of teamwork is felt throughout the organization,” she said. “Many drivers have mentioned in our driver surveys that this place feels more like a family than a place of work.”
That also gives Armstrong pride. “Brakebush is still family owned after 100 years,” he noted. “You run into a lot of the family quite often, and they’re just an outstanding group of people that created an awesome atmosphere.” FO
Top: Brakebush operates the Lower 48 states, with most long-haul drivers typically traveling 2,200 miles per week. Bottom: Safety is the top priority of the fleet, with regular maintenance programs, equipment refreshes, and compliance training for drivers.
Photo: Brakebrush Transportation
Chemical command
Small fleet’s unwavering safety commitments build excellence by
Josh Fisher
Occidental’s
Moving hazardous chemicals is complex. But after 25 years in the U.S. Army, including the last 18 in Special Forces and time as an elite Green Beret, Kevin Crowder knows how to lead a complex operation to victory.
The Occidental Chemical truck operations manager took over in 2014 when the tanker fleet faced safety concerns. The fleet of 32 company drivers, who cover about 2.5 million miles annually, has just one recordable DOT accident in the past decade.
“We’re not hauling Charmin,” Crowder told FleetOwner. “What we’re hauling is dangerous.”
Danger and unsafe driving don’t mix well. After Crowder took over managing the trucking operations, he schooled his
company drivers on the Smith System for safe defensive driving. “I got one of my supervisors trained, and then we trained the whole fleet,” he said. “I think it just opened the guys’ eyes up to using the five keys of the Smith System. That has helped us avoid a lot of accidents.”
The bulk fleet specializes in transporting complex chemical products such as methyl chloride, chlorine derivatives, and hydrochloric acid—materials that require exceptional skill and precision.
Operation: Safe fleet
In the Special Forces, Crowder had missions leading teams tasked with protecting presidents in foreign countries and helping train other nations to fight terrorism. However, he refined his leadership approach for civilian life while
OCCIDENTAL CHEMICAL FACTS AND FIGURES:
Occidental Chemical, known as OxyChem, produces indispensable chemicals internationally. This small private fleet covers about 2.5 million miles annually delivering products to customers across the U.S.
Parent company: Oxy
Private fleet size: 25+
Private fleet drivers: 32
Headquarters: Wichita, Kansas
Community outreach: Oxy is a founding member of the American Chemical Council, ensuring safe and responsible chemical companies’ operations. It is a member of the Chlorine Institute, which provides safe transportation and utilization of chlorine. Oxy’s private fleet participates in activities with its trucking associations in Kansas and Louisiana to give back to the communities where the private fleet is based.
Website: oxy.com
On-time delivery rate: 99.6%
Driver retention: 83%
DOT accident rate: 0 per million miles
operations focus intensively on customer service, boasting a 99.6% on-time delivery rate. Photo: Oxy
in the nation. A rigorous training program beyond industry standards helps set up his drivers for success.
to me, that’s why we don’t have accidents. That’s why we don’t have spills.”
Tough training, good pay, and healthy benefits have led to a stable driver workforce. Oxy also pays the drivers hourly when they are loading and unloading. And while the company doesn’t backhaul, the drivers get paid the same “when they come back empty.”
“Once we get them, we don’t usually lose them until they retire,” Crowder said. “We only have 32 drivers, but I’d say over half of them are over 20 years with the company.”
And it’s essential to have happy, experienced drivers because Oxy’s private fleet needs to be available to respond to needs that its third-party carriers cannot.
working as a production manager for BASF before joining Oxy.
“It was a little tough when I first got out of being on a Special Forces A-Team with all Type-A personalities wanting to be the best of the best—then going into a plant with a union environment,” he recalled. “I had to shift my leadership style.
“My thing is if you take care of your people, your people will take care of you—and I think that goes a long way,” he continued. “I worked for a lot of different leaders in the military, and I swore I would never be a micromanager. If I have to put my foot down, I can put my foot down, but it’s going to be because you made me do it. I’m not going to be in your business every five minutes.”
Crowder said his motto is: “Do what’s right when nobody is looking and own anything in your realm. If something happens, even if it’s not your fault, you own it. I don’t have a zero-fault policy, but I do have a ‘don’t do it again’ policy. Learn from your mistakes and move on.”
That motto has helped him and his team build one of the safest small fleets
Tough training pays off
New drivers undergo four to six weeks of intensive on-the-job training with experienced driver mentors who help them learn every aspect of chemical hauling.
The financial investment is significant. “I’m paying double for that load,” Crowder points out, as the trainer and trainee are both fully compensated. “But
“We can react immediately to whatever the company needs to do,” Crowder explained why Oxy has this small, nimble fleet. “If a customer has a shutdown situation, I can go all over the U.S. and move my dispatch around where a third-party carrier couldn’t.”
That’s supported by a 24/7 dispatch operation so that when a customer calls, they reach another human immediately.
Looking ahead, Crowder and his team are not resting on their decade of success. He’s focusing on more technology investments, continuous training, and unwavering safety focus. FO
Tough training, good pay, and healthy benefits at Oxy have led to a stable driver workforce. Photo: Oxy
The bulk fleet specializes in transporting complex chemical products. Photo: Oxy
by David Heller
Impact of language regulations
English proficiency crackdown could put more drivers out
ALTHOUGH I STUDIED Spanish in high school for a few years, I am far from fluent, but I can ask where the restroom is or order a beer—all the essentials. But I would never consider myself a conversationalist or mildly communicative in a foreign language. This brings us to the recent news regarding a professional truck driver’s ability to be proficient in the English language.
At a time when every regulation comes under question as it relates to the deregulation atmosphere that we are operating under, we will ... be paying attention to the outcomes of these out-of-service orders.
As a nation, we do not have an official language; however, as an industry, we have regulations. More specifically, we have 49 CFR 391.11 (b)(2) that requires drivers to be able to read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the
English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records. Fairly cut and dry.
Now, over the years, this regulation has been watered down, for what reasons we may never know. Technology such as smartphones and their corresponding apps was permitted for non-English speaking drivers, likely exacerbating the problem of effectively communicating with them. Adding fuel to the fire, states began implementing the written Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) exam in different languages, skirting the issue of a clearly defined regulation.
As an industry, we can never advocate for noncompliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. We can, however, debate the pros and cons of a regulation to the point where the regulatory process could intervene to determine the validity or impact of such a rule. This never happened, thus bringing our industry to where it is today.
The global economy has grown tremendously, and cross-border freight has increased. As an industry with a constant need for filling driver seats, the need arose for cross-border operations and recruiting drivers from other countries to operate commercial motor vehicles to deliver freight effectively.
This premise unfortunately led to unscrupulous actions and questionable activities. Whether it be fraudulent CDLs or purposeful hiring of foreign drivers at below-market rates and violating current trade agreements, these practices brought the matter to the attention of those in government, and appropriate actions are being taken to support an industry that does things the correct way.
Skirting the regulations is a bad idea. To battle that, President Trump issued an executive order that called for a proficiency of the English language
of service
for America’s truck drivers, a necessity “to read and understand traffic signs, communicate with traffic safety, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints, and cargo weight-limit station officers. Drivers must provide feedback to their employers and customers and receive related directions in English.”
Having an executive order is one thing, but enforcing it is another. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance took immediate action within its purview to discuss the issue and voted to make a lack of English proficiency part of the out-of-service criteria for truckers. Even the CDL test will be affected, as a driver who takes the test in a language other than English and receives a CDL will be immediately out of service.
Implementing enforcement is the question that surrounds this issue today. What does it look like, and how is it standardized nationwide? New York practices must be the same as New Mexico, which must also be the same as Florida, placing the onus on the alliance to standardize them. We applaud the alliance for its purposeful and fast-paced actions.
Time will tell whether or not this order will have a significant impact. Will there be many out-of-service orders, and what will the overall safety impact be?
At a time when every regulation is under question as it relates to the deregulation atmosphere that we are operating under, we will be paying attention to the outcomes of these out-of-service orders and how they play out in an industry that craves this enforcement action. The numbers bear watching, as will the results. FO
David Heller | Dheller@truckload.org
David Heller, CDS, is senior VP of safety and governmental affairs for the Truckload Carriers Association. He is responsible for interpreting and communicating industry-related legislation to TCA members.
Photo: shotbydave | 168626569 | Getty Images
How to grow your own fleet workforce
Tips and advice on how fleets can turn entry-level workers into
by Josh Fisher
One of the best ways to supply your fleet with stellar drivers—and of ce workers—who want to stick with your company for the long haul is to grow your own.
Accident-free million-mile drivers get started somewhere. So do future executives. For private eets, which run transportation operations for companies focused on retail, construction, foodservice, and more, opportunities abound, according to Leah Shaver, National Transportation Institute CEO.
Shaver visited with private eet executives during the National Private Truck Council’s annual conference in Orlando in May. Along with delivering this year’s keynote address, she and James Jaillet, NTI’s chief intelligence of cer, presented an educational workshop for eet leaders.
In her keynote address, Shaver emphasized the importance of eets in growing their internal workforce by helping entry-level employees nd more purpose and see themselves growing with the organization.
“Can you believe the pay for a yard driver has increased 16% in four years?”
Shaver said during her address to hundreds of private fleet executives on Sunday, May 11, at the Orange County Convention Center. “This is an entrylevel job where you can groom and grow your own drivers into other, more needed jobs in the eet.”
Those future jobs for entry-level yard jockeys could be the harder-to- ll-andretain long-haul driving or important regional delivery jobs.
Shaver advised eet leaders to build up their labor supply chains by attracting more young people, recruiting women, and creating job advancement opportunities. While many private eets have relied for years on enticing experienced for-hire drivers with more pay,
career leaders
Shaver said that private eets also have opportunities to develop their drivers from plucking people out of their warehouses or other entry-level positions to put them on a growing career path.
After the keynote address and Shaver’s workshop in Orlando, she sat down with FleetOwner to discuss how successful private eets are growing their workforces on the road and in the back of ce. Here is an edited Q&A of the discussion:
FO: What are some of the pain points that private fleet leaders are bringing up to you during the conference?
LS: One challenge was having a training program from the ground up. Some call it “dock to driver.” We call it career pathing, which is creating and articulating career paths so folks want to join the company and understand what’s great about the company that would make them want to stay.
There were some questions about whether some of the entry-level jobs in the industry can also offer the aspect of being home more. Flexibility in pay has increased so signi cantly in the last few years. One of the jobs, for example, we had in our deck was that spotter driver pay has gone up 16% in recent years. If that’s true, that could be a rewarding career choice that
gets you home every night. But if that driver continued on a career path to the next level, they could make more but be away from home more.
FO: Do you have examples of fleets that can build better internal career paths for entry-level employees and drivers?
LS: You should incentivize the next level with pay, programs, and upskilling. One example is that several private eets we work with have different segments of drivers doing different areas of work. They have different areas of specialty. We could take a driver with no endorsements and a certain skill level, and then upskill them into doing much more rewarding jobs from a pay perspective. Also, work with that driver to build their skills, helping them get a hazmat endorsement to haul fuel or a job with more delivery stops and customer-facing work. Those jobs can be rewarding.
FO: How is state-level cannabis reform changing trucking’s potential worker pool?
LS: THC access is legal in all but a few states. We now operate in a society where more Americans have access to THC before they turn 21—and probably earlier. They are not considering a
The trucking industry has various career paths, but working with entry-level workers to help them see where they could go in transportation can help fleets grow their own successful drivers and executives. Photo: 42709725 | Skypixel Dreamstime
job in a regulated industry. If hair testing becomes part of the FMCSA regulations, that would also impact potential new entrants.
FO: You’re a young GenXer, caught in the middle of two big generations of workers. What is the biggest challenge among the various generations at work?
LS: Communication and exibility. There are four generations of drivers and people working today. In general, they all have different job expectations and needs. One eet told me they have boomers and millennials in the of ce. The millennials are of childbearing age and need accommodations to tackle their careers, meet milestones, and keep family commitments. Those
commitments can keep them from doing their jobs in the of ce; for example, working a second shift or on Saturdays. The older people in the workforce have a gap in understanding why you would even make accommodations to help that millennial worker grow.
Just because remote work options didn’t exist when older workers were young doesn’t mean that today’s next generation shouldn’t bene t.
Understanding and bridging the generational gaps is a big challenge in the workforce—especially for young people because they might be trained by a boomer who doesn’t know how to level with them, communicate, amplify their strengths, and focus on how that person can grow within the organization.
HEAV Y LIFTING
FO: What are some successful ways fleets set up di erent workers for better career paths?
LS: Let’s discuss women and their unique needs at different ages and roles.
Regarding truck driving, women enter the industry at an older average age (in their 50s) than men because they generally wait for their children to grow up.
Conversely, those in the of ce tend to get trampled and stuck into mid-level roles because there isn’t enough exibility to be a mother and a worker.
Companies listening to feedback and understanding those special needs are making accommodations. They’re doing really well at recruiting younger women and career pathing them into jobs and other opportunities.
On the driver side, young people like technology and embrace it. Young people like safety and embrace it. Young people really want to understand what their next step is. Companies that hold on to them communicate better. They regularly remind them what their next step is in their career, how they can upskill a little bit more, and how they can increase their exposure and awareness.
Along those lines, some really standout companies offer dock-to-driver programs that are career paths for various jobs. FO
Briefs
Penske powers up Catalyst AI to boost data actions
Penske Truck Leasing is enhancing its artificial intelligence-fueled fleet management platform to make complex data more usable.
Telematics can send up to 30 data points from every five seconds to every five minutes. “How do you make sense of all that?” asked Tim Haynes, VP of digital and customer data for Penske Transportation Solutions.
“Think of it as sensory overload.”
Penske’s Catalyst AI uses machine learning to help fleets use their data for faster, more strategic decision-making across operations, Haynes told FleetOwner during NPTC’s annual convention.
“You have all this noise going on around you,” he noted. “How do you distill that down and turn it into something meaningful? That’s part of what our algorithms do, but this is not pure AI. It is AI with people involved, and
it’s common sense.”
Catalyst AI added four core enhancements to help fleet managers understand their data better:
• Fantasy fleet: Compares top-performing vehicles most similar to each truck in the user’s fleet.
• Hub-level comparison: Allows users to assess operations and uncover opportunities.
• Impacting metrics: Gives users ability to focus on specific metrics.
Fleet Advantage’s TRUST index boosts fleet safety
Fleet financing and management provider Fleet Advantage unveiled a new data-based safety index that offers private fleets a way to benchmark their safety scores.
The new Truck Reliability and Usage Safety Tracker, which Fleet
Advantage calls TRUST, details private fleet-specific KPIs to help organizations improve operations and elevate their overall CSA scores.
The TRUST index can help smaller or growing private fleets compare themselves to top carriers in the industry, Katerina Jones, Fleet Advantage’s chief marketing officer, told FleetOwner during NPTC 25.
“They’re more sophisticated,” Jones said of the largest, best-performing private fleets. “They just have more resources. Our TRUST report provides private fleets with the comprehensive insights and trended data they need to proactively address critical safety issues and to continually set high standards.”
Jones said that by considering the total cost of ownership of safety and equipment and life cycle cost management, fleets can lift their safety cultures while making their operations more efficient. FO
When to think about
Sometimes operations or economics call for a shift in equipment sizes. Here’s what to consider before making the switch. by Jade
Brasher
Photo: vitpho
Images
Trucking industry veterans understand that operations change. A trucking company’s largest customer might relocate a warehouse. Acceptable delivery windows could increase or decrease. A trucking company could make more pro t by switching to another haul type.
When those operational changes happen, a eet might also nd it necessary to change its equipment.
Paul Rosa, VP of procurement and fleet planning at Penske, and Kyle Hammontree, business segment manager at Geotab, break down why a trucking company might seek to rightsize its eet by supplementing a heavy-duty eet with a medium-duty truck.
Things to consider
As a eet owner, how do you decide when your eet needs more or less? When should you purchase more equipment, different equipment, or of oad equipment? First, it’s necessary to understand the eet’s operation.
“It’s about the utilization of the eet,” Penske’s Rosa told FleetOwner. “Are they using [equipment] all the time? Are they using it part of the time?”
When understanding fleet utilization, it’s also important to understand whether each truck travels the most optimum route and how many vehicles travel those routes.
“You may have too many vehicles for the route you do,” Rosa said. “You may not have enough vehicles for the route you do, and you’re not taking care of your customers appropriately.”
Some rigs might also be overkill for certain routes. “In some cases, eets realize they’re running heavy-duty vehicles on routes that don’t require that level of power or capacity,” Geotab’s Hammontree said. “A medium-duty vehicle might handle the same job just as well—with lower fuel consumption, reduced maintenance costs, and a smaller environmental footprint.”
Further, what is your eet’s territory? Can the fleet easily manage the full
“A fleet must ensure that every vehicle has a defined, justifiable role, whether that means removing underutilized assets, shifting classes, or optimizing routes.”
– Kyle Hammontree, Geotab
breadth of its operational area with the trucks it currently owns?
Are you fully optimizing trailer space? Rosa points out that not every truck is loaded with pallets—some loads are irregular and require Tetris skills to ensure full optimization.
Analyzing a eet’s operation includes customer aspects as well. Does the customer require delivery to a warehouse, a storefront, or is the delivery nal mile?
Speaking of customers, what if customers can only accept deliveries in a speci c timeframe? What if your eet operates in a city that restricts large trucks from speci c areas during certain hours?
“If you’re only able to deliver from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. because that’s the hours of operation for your customers, but now you are limited by only having tractor-trailers,” Rosa explained, “you’re now minimizing your opportunity to thrive as a company.”
Each eet scenario will have a different outcome as to the best method to rightsize the eet, Rosa said. If a eet owner decides their business operations warrant a change in equipment—such as replacing a heavy-duty rig with a medium-duty truck—additional considerations must be made. One such consideration lies in the truck’s reliability.
“It’s still quite known that, generally speaking, you get more life out of a 15L
or 13L engine than you would a medium-duty engine,” Rosa said.
Most “ rst users” of medium-duty trucks will get 300,000 to 400,000 miles from a truck before of oading it to the next owner for the truck’s second life, Rosa said. But with a heavy-duty truck with a heavy-duty engine, rst users will get 600,000 to 700,000 miles out of a truck before of oading it.
Not only will you get more life from a heavy-duty tractor, but you can also carry more. Rosa explained that eets running a heavy-duty tractor-trailer fully loaded would require two medium-duty trucks to replace it.
Benefits of rightsizing
While a eet that operates duty cycles more aligned with heavy-duty tractors isn’t likely to see bene ts of switching to a lighter vehicle, eets that can replace heavy-duty vehicles with medium-duty trucks—or those that can supplement medium-duty trucks in their heavy-duty eets—might reap the bene ts of a medium-duty truck’s lower operating costs and its versatility.
A medium-duty truck uses less fuel, which is an automatic bene t to the eet’s bottom line. It also leads to a significant reduction in emissions, which, depending on a eet’s sustainability goals or regulatory obligations, could make a strong case on its own, Hammontree said.
Depending on how long the truck is in operation, a medium-duty engine will require less maintenance than a heavyduty engine, Rosa said. Medium-duty trucks also require less brake and tire maintenance than heavy-duty vehicles, simply “because of how the vehicle operates,” he noted.
A medium-duty truck might also prove more bene cial in certain environments than a heavy-duty tractor, especially in urban or short-haul operations. In contrast, a tractor-trailer “limits your ability to get into smaller spaces, urban environments, city life,” Rosa said. Additionally, medium-duty trucks offer
increased maneuverability when navigating city streets and alleyways compared to a heavy-duty semi-truck.
For more versatility, a medium-duty truck might prove more suitable. Consider a fleet that hauls various products and decides to replace one tractor and 53-ft. trailer with two medium-duty trucks. The fleet might upfit one medium-duty truck as a reefer to haul refrigerated goods; the other might be used as a simple box truck or a flatbed to haul dry goods and equipment, Rosa said.
Finally, some medium-duty trucking operations don’t require a CDL, and this can increase hiring opportunities for fleets looking for good drivers.
When to shift from HD to MD
How do you decide to replace a heavyduty truck with a medium-duty truck or if a medium-duty truck could supplement your heavy-duty fleet? The answer will be different for every operation.
To help get there, a fleet must ensure that every vehicle “has a defined, justifiable role, whether that means removing underutilized assets, shifting classes, or optimizing routes,” Hammontree said.
“Fleets understand their operations pretty well,” Rosa said, “and they know what they need.” For this reason, it isn’t common for an established fleet to switch truck classes, he said.
Hammontree echoed this sentiment.
“What we’ve seen more often are fleets downsizing—removing underused vehicles, consolidating routes, and getting leaner,” he said. “Those moves are often the first step in realizing there’s room to rethink not just how many vehicles you need, but what kind.”
In many cases, when a fleet does decide to operate a medium-duty truck in place of a heavy-duty truck, it’s typically for a portion of the fleet, such as within a certain territory or for moving certain products.
However, new entrants into the industry or those new to running their own business might not immediately understand whether more, less, or different
Telematics data can help fleets understand if their operations would benefit from a change in equipment. Telematics provider Geotab offers analytics tools to help fleets analyze utilization down to location, drivers, or even the time of day, such as in the example here. Photo: Geotab
equipment would best suit their operation. In these cases, Rosa suggests speaking with an expert.
“As an industry expert, [Penske] can provide some of this additional input and observations,” Rosa said. It’s the fleet owners that are “young in their tenure and ... their business is thriving and growing where you get into some of this maneuvering and this change.”
It is also these new-entrant fleets that likely have the most flexibility, as they are building from the ground up, Hammontree said. This stage of growth is “an opportunity to look at the full picture—route types, load profiles, maintenance models—and select vehicle classes that support agility, cost-efficiency, and growth,” he said.
Rosa recalled having one customer move from a tractor and 53-ft. trailer to medium-duty trucks and smaller trailers.
“We brought a customer down from operating with 53-ft. trailers down to 28[-ft. trailers],” Rosa said. “They weren’t filling the trailer all the time. So it’s like, ‘OK, if you were to go with a tractor and a 28-ft. pup, as we call it, you’re going to have greater maneuverability, greater flexibility, be able to go into the spaces that you wouldn’t be able to get into with a 53-ft. trailer.’ And that was a decision that we helped them make.”
The need for data
Data is another helpful tool for fleet owners to understand when and if to
shift to different equipment. Fleet data will help owners better understand their overall utilization and help them make the right decision because no benefit will be realized if shifting equipment is the wrong move.
“That’s where data comes in,” Hammontree said. “It tells you how vehicles are being used, what’s underperforming, where there’s slack, and where there’s opportunity. Without that insight, the shift is a guess. With it, it can be a competitive advantage.
“If a fleet is considering that kind of shift—from heavy- to medium-duty—it should be backed by the right data,” he continued. “Because unless you know for certain that a medium-duty vehicle can perform the work reliably—and deliver savings in cost, time, or emissions—it’s a risk.”
Hammontree notes that this risk may manifest as breakdowns, delivery failures, and higher long-term costs, and this is why right-sizing starts with data.
In contrast to new-entrant fleets starting from the ground up, established fleets should rely on their fleet data even more, Hammontree suggested. “Established fleets have legacy assets and operational patterns
to navigate,” he said. “For them, the opportunity lies in using data to identify inefficiencies—vehicles that are over-spec’d for their tasks, routes that could be better served with a different class, or underutilized trucks that could be removed altogether.”
Overall, telematics data can help fleets understand utilization thresholds, operational patterns, cost and emissions profiles for each vehicle, and—as with some telematics providers such as Geotab—provide analytics tools to help fleets analyze utilization down to location, drivers, or even the time of day, according to Hammontree.
Economic uncertainties play a role
The decision to rightsize a fleet or change equipment is, on the surface, an operational decision; however, it is also an economic one. Business decisions can make or break a business in times of uncertainty such as we have experienced in 2025. But what the trucking industry has going for it is that it’s no stranger to uncertain and hard times. In fact, the trucking industry has been in a freight recession since 2022.
“We’ve been in a freight recession that’s caused a lot of fleets to ask, ‘What
the heck am I going to do?’” Rosa said. “Many customers are delaying replacements or adding equipment, and in some cases, asking, ‘Can I reduce my fleet?’ ... The longer they wait, the harder it becomes. We’re at that inflection point where fleets have to make a decision.”
To ensure the right decision is made for the success of the fleet, Hammontree said both operational factors and economic factors should be considered.
“Economics will always be part of the conversation—fuel, maintenance, total cost of ownership—but those numbers only matter if the vehicles can meet operational needs,” he said. “A vehicle that’s cheaper to run but can’t handle the work isn’t saving you anything.”
Penske has these difficult conversations with fleet owners on a regular basis, and in the current political and economic environment with start-andstop tariffs, rising inflation, and high interest rates, his advice is to reassess operations and, perhaps, even wait for the dust to settle.
“There’s certainly a lot going on,” Rosa said. “Once that settles and people see the clear pathway of what they need ... there’s going to be an inflection point. And I think our industry is going to see a big takeoff.”
While Rosa’s words are hopeful of more stability to come, Hammontree believes that even in times of stability, rightsizing is a never-ending process.
“It’s an ongoing discipline,” Hammontree explained. “Whether it’s adding a few medium-duty vehicles, removing underutilized trucks, or rethinking how work is distributed across the fleet, the goal is always the same: Optimize for performance, efficiency, and sustainability.”
Fleets considering right-sizing by medium-duty addition, subtraction, or supplementation should immediately begin analyzing their data and assessing their operations and customers’ needs to ensure the right economic and operational decision is made when that dust finally settles. FO
A fleet operating in heavy-duty cycles is unlikely to see benefits of switching to a lighter vehicle, but fleets that can replace heavy-duty vehicles with medium-duty trucks will benefit from lower operating costs and greater versatility. Photo: Penske
In-cab comforts for drivers
Carrier Transicold
Carrier Transicold’s ComfortPro electric auxiliary power unit, an advanced, emissions-free APU, is designed to provide drivers with quiet, reliable climate control during rest periods without idling the engine. The ComfortPro is available in two battery configurations, offering 11 to 17 hours of power.
Daimler Truck
Eberspaecher
Eberspaecher Cooltronic fan quickly cools the cab to a pleasant temperature, even during brief breaks. The company says its Cooltronic series features easy installation, quiet running, and less fuel consumption when the truck is stationary, protecting your wallet and the environment.
EpicVue
Western Star 49X’s interior offers comforts, including the ergonomic wraparound dash that puts control and critical information within reach. The digital Driver Command Center provides information such as gear selection, oil pressure, fault events, and feedback from the Detroit Assurance Suite of Safety Systems. The integrated steering wheel controls of the X-Series help keep operators alert and focused on the road. The 49X offers sleeper lengths up to 72 in.
EpicVue offers a DIRECTV and Wi-Fi bundle for long-haul drivers that includes premium entertainment with high-speed internet. Drivers get access to premium networks like Paramount+ with Showtime, an on-demand library, 24/7 DVR, and streaming apps. The Wi-Fi connectivity offers unlimited high-speed data and coast-to-coast coverage.
International
by
HOLD TIGHT, ADVENTURE AWAITS
When it comes to securing lighter loads, choosing the right equipment still matters. Kinedyne’s light and medium duty products are built with the same attention to quality, reliability, and performance that define our brand.
Whether for day-to-day operations or specialized applications, these solutions offer consistent strength and lasting value—backed by a name trusted across the cargo control industry.
The new International HV Series offers advancements in driver comfort. The HV Series features a sloped hood, LED headlamps for better visibility, and under-hood lighting to aid inspections in low-light conditions. The OEM says new sideof-cab steps and an integrated shifter streamline the driving experience, enhancing ease of access and operation.
Isuzu
Featuring urethane seat cushions and upholstery with armrests, the Isuzu N-Series diesel cab has features that reduce driver fatigue and increase productivity, according to the OEM. Steering wheelmounted buttons can control the Multi-Information Display, audio system, cruise control, hands-free phone calling, and more. Other in-cab features include brighter LED interior lighting, a larger overhead console for more storage, a card holder clip for additional functionality, and more.
Kenworth
Kenworth says its T680, T880, and W990 models feature advanced technologies including a 15-in. digital display that puts information directly in front of the driver and can be customized to suit preferences. These Class 8 models feature its
Photo: Isuzu
Photo: Kenworth
Photo: International
Photo: Western Star
SmartWheel for easy control of cruise settings, radio, and other functions without the driver taking their hands off the wheel. Kenworth’s DigitalVision mirrors improve visibility by placing monitors on the A-pillars. These mirrors offer night vision and perform well in adverse weather conditions.
Mack
the inside of their trucks clean. The laser-measured floor mats use a tray system to keep any mess on the mat and off the floor.
Peterbilt
Mack’s all-new Pioneer has a driver-focused in-cab design. It features premium wide-based seats with options like dual armrests, heating/cooling, and integrated massage to reduce fatigue. Driver amenities include a flat-bottom steering wheel with 3-point adjustment, push-button start, mDrive transmission stalk, and customizable switch layouts. The cabin offers wireless charging with inductive stations and mounting solutions for devices. The new Mack Integrated Parking Cooler uses the truck’s batteries to cool the cab without idling.
Minimizer
Minimizer’s custom-molded floor mats are designed to help eliminate in-cab corrosion, making it easy for fleets to keep
Peterbilt has several in-cab features to enhance driver comfort and convenience. The new, optional infotainment center supports both wireless and wired Apple CarPlay and provides seamless access to navigation, calls, messages, and compatible apps. The Model 579 features a 15-in. customizable digital display, allowing drivers to tailor gauge layouts and access trip diagnostics. Integrated with advanced driver-assistance systems, it enhances safety by displaying collision mitigation alerts and lane-keeping assistance. The 80-in. UltraLoft sleeper has amenities that include a refrigerator, multiple outlets, a workstation with climate and audio controls, and more.
Volvo
Volvo says its all-new VNL delivers a premium in-cab experience. From ergonomic seating to advanced climate control and ambient lighting, every detail enhances comfort, convenience, and rest. Wireless charging, push-button ignition, and power outlets support productivity, while controls, a new gear selector, and optimized pedal positions help reduce driver fatigue. The sleeper is upgraded with various bunk configurations. FO
Photo: Mack Trucks
by Kevin Rohlwing
Check saves lives (and your fleet)
Near-fatal wheel-off incident highlights why torque checks are necessary
INSTALLING A COMMERCIAL truck tire wheel or rim assembly seems like nuts and bolts to most people. In most cases, a hydraulic jack and impact wrench with a 33-mm impact socket is all you need. The advancements in cordless technology have rendered the air compressor unnecessary, making it easier for anyone to install the assembly or assemblies on the end of the axle.
W hen an inflated truck tire hits something, the damage is devastating. Force equals mass times acceleration; in this case, the mass is 200 lb., with the acceleration around 60 mph.
In the U.S., there are about 13.5 million registered commercial motor vehicles. About 2.97 million are tractor-trailers, and 10.5 million are single-unit trucks. If each type of vehicle had 18 and 6 tire/wheel assemblies, respectively, that’s about 126.46 million truck tires and wheels on the ground. If the average semi truck travels 62,000 miles a year, that’s 184.14 billion miles in the tractor-trailer category alone without any major wheel-off accidents.
Earlier this year, a set of duals broke free from a semi-truck and struck a vehicle outside the I-80 Truck Stop in Walcott, Iowa. According to KWQC-TV, “the force of the impact sent her car flying airborne and caused it to roll multiple times before it came to a stop upside down.” The driver suffered broken ribs and leg injuries but survived the accident. She’s lucky she was traveling in the same direction as the tractor-trailer. If the tire that hit her vehicle was coming from the opposite direction, the Iowa State Patrol would be investigating a fatality instead of a hit-and-run.
When an inflated truck tire hits something, the damage is devastating. Force equals mass times acceleration; in this case, the mass is 200 lb., with the acceleration around 60 mph. If one gets loose, it’s enough force to go through a house or crush a car like an aluminum can. The driver of the semi-truck that caused the accident on westbound I-80 near Walcott between 7:25 and 8:00 a.m. on Friday, February 7, should consider himself fortunate that an innocent motorist was only injured and her vehicle totaled.
The commercial tire service industry is getting better at installing wheels and rims on CMVs. Technicians are trained to follow the RIST Procedure, so the correct amount of clamping force is generated when the specified torque is used to tighten the wheel/rim fasteners.
There’s definitely some science to the torque component, as torque wrenches have evolved, but the proper torque is no guarantee that the wheels or rims will stay attached to the axle. Clamping force is the key, and it cannot be measured in the field, so the best the technician can do is set the right conditions for the recommended torque to deliver the maximum clamping force.
When the technician makes sure mating surfaces are clean, components are in good condition, and fasteners are snugged in a star pattern to seat the wheel, the proper torque generates sufficient clamping force almost all the time. Several factors require clarification, but there is a way to reduce further the odds of a wheel-off that cannot be overlooked.
Commercial tire dealers are recommending a torque check after 50-100 miles for a reason. The technician can follow every step and use a calibrated torque wrench to tighten each fastener in a star pattern, yet the wheels still get loose. If a stud was previously fatigued by an overtorque condition but has not yielded to the point where it deforms or breaks, it will lose tension as soon as the vehicle starts operating. The nut doesn’t have to move for this to occur physically. If the 50-100 mile interval is an issue, a few right-hand and left-hand turns with speed bumps or railroad tracks after the wheels are installed will create enough flex in the wheels to accelerate any loss of tension. When the technician uses the same torque to check the fasteners, any movement will identify a fatigued stud. It’s the only reasonable way to ensure the wheels stay attached to the axle.
Without guarantees, the vendor and fleet must take every step to prevent a wheel-off accident. The technician will be held accountable for following the RIST Procedure, and the dealer must defend its torque wrench program. The carrier is responsible for the 50-100 mile torque check, and when it doesn’t happen, accidents like the one in Iowa jeopardize the fleet. FO
Kevin Rohlwing | krohlwing@tireindustry.org
Kevin Rohlwing is the chief technical officer for the Tire Industry Association. He has more than 40 years of experience in the tire industry and has created programs to help train more than 220,000 technicians.
Photo: 1933bkk | 1382795898 | Getty Images
Fleets shift from BEV to renewables
by Jeremy Wolfe
Clean transportation technologies are in choppy waters. TRC Companies released its sixth annual State of Sustainable Fleets Market Brief during its Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Anaheim last month. Changes for clean transportation regulation, market development, and technology are outlined.
Competing technologies and businesses are finding niches across the truckload, transit, municipal, and drayage sectors, while other companies are going bankrupt. “These are all signs of an industry in transformation,” the authors wrote. They emphasized that an overall growth in supply and demand “underscores the industry’s resilience and adaptability in the face of shifting regulatory, economic, and technological factors.”
From more than 100 pages of key data representing the current sustainable transportation landscape, here are some of the top advancements and challenges for alternative fuels:
Government incentives: U.S. transportation policy is changing, leaving uncertain futures for alt fuels. The Trump administration wants to roll back EPA policies, including clean transportation incentives, emissions standards, and California Air Resources Board waivers.
Executive orders pushed the EPA to reconsider all greenhouse gas regulations and pause alt fuel funding disbursements. EPA is reconsidering all its greenhouse gas regulations, including those affecting trucking, such as GHG3.
However, nonfederal programs offer $13.5 billion to drive alternative powertrain adoption, creating some incentives.
Natural gas: Trucking’s natural gas adoption saw production and demand rise last year. A major development for Class 8 trucks was Cummins’ 15-liter natural gas engine, the X15N, that launched in 2024. It can be spec’d with Peterbilt, Kenworth, and Freightliner.
Registrations for Class 8 tractors
Status and Risk of Select Grant Programs to Support Clean Vehicles and Infrastructure
The State of Sustainable
report breaks down the risks facing federal alternative fuel incentive programs. Source TRC Companies
running natural gas in 2024 rose 50%, reaching 2,317 units. Natural gas refuse vehicle registrations jumped 43% to 2,624. Over the past six years, renewable natural gas use increased 234%.
The number of RNG fueling stations rose 63% in 2024 as production grew: More than 400 facilities produce RNG today with about 130 under construction and 233 planned, as of late 2024.
Electric: Battery-electric vehicle adoption is rising while federal support is deteriorating. Medium-duty and heavyduty BEV deliveries hit 41,472 in 2024, up signi cantly from 2023. Commercial cargo vans and pickup trucks accounted for 92% of new registrations. TRC’s survey found that 22% of regional logistics eets operated at least one BEV and that BEV adoption is greatest among delivery, municipal, and goods movement eets.
TRC predicts active charging ports for medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles
will nearly triple in the U.S. this year, with most charging ports likely to support megawatt charging.
H2: Hydrogen is still less developed than other fuel types, and the Trump administration may cut funding for a nationwide fueling program.
Two major hydrogen vehicle makers—Nikola and Hyzon—both failed in recent months. However, more mature and established manufacturers have promising H2 programs. Hyundai, a partnership between Kenworth and Toyota, and a partnership between Daimler and Volvo promise to bring hydrogen trucks to market.
The report added that buses using H2 fuel cells grew in 2024: 75 new fuel cell transit buses began service, twice as many as in 2023. Meanwhile, hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks reached 165 registered units across both medium-duty and heavy-duty tractors in 2024. FO
Leaning on what it learned from its first heavy-duty BEV, Peterbilt is rolling out its first vocational EV and updating its flagship Class 8 electric truck.
Equipped with Paccar’s new ePowertrain, the new Model 567EV and next-generation Model 579EV offer increased range and advanced technology for fleets seeking to reduce emissions and enhance uptime.
“The completely new ePowertrain is the heart of the new EV models and a culmination of five-plus years of arduous testing and developing a battery-electric platform befitting a Peterbilt,” Erik Johnson, the OEM’s assistant GM, said before debuting the Model 567EV and a next-generation version of its Model 579EV at ACT Expo.
In the five years since the 579EV debuted, Peterbilt has gained valuable insights into what makes a successful battery-electric operation. Peterbilt’s Chief Engineer Scott Newhouse said that the OEM understands how to better accessorize EV powertrains.
Kenworth
debuts vocationalfocused Class 8 EV
While Kenworth already offers an electric medium-duty truck (the K270E/ K370E) and an electric heavy-duty truck (the T680E), it recently added a heavy-duty vocational EV to its lineup with the T880E. This truck features an electric Paccar powertrain, and new battery-electric architecture that is also added to the Kenworth T680E.
The advanced powertrain sought to provide three main things: increase the range, work in multiple applications, and decrease the time to charge. The all-new T880E and the T680E with the enhanced powertrain offer a range of 100 to 250 miles. This is quite a step up from the T680E’s
previous generation, which offered a range of up to 150 miles.
With the multiple battery configurations available through this new battery-electric powertrain architecture, Kenworth enhanced the range of its T680E and debuted the T880E with a higher range. Customers can spec these vehicles to include two to five battery packs. The T880E features 365 to 470 continuous hp and up to 605 peak hp with 1,850 lb.-ft. of torque.
International’s new Class 8 EV all about proving TCO
International Motors used ACT Expo to introduce its newest EV, the International eRH Series, a Class 8 regional tractor. International is ready for transportation’s future as a manufacturer and a customer partner, its leader said.
The corporate buzzwords du jour are “pause” and “uncertainty,” International Chief Executive Mathias Carlbaum told FleetOwner on April 29. While there might be some questions about short-term ZEV adoption, International is focused on its destination.
“In the long term, I’m the first to say you need to stand on your own legs,” he said. “You have to earn that yourself and have a TCO (total cost of ownership) that pays the bills—otherwise you never scale.”
Despite today’s uncertainties, after meeting with some unnamed large fleet customers during ACT, he said there is still an appetite for ZE vehicles. “In their case, it’s either for their organization to meet internal targets or it’s because they see where the future is heading, and they don’t want to be caught behind,” he said.
While he acknowledged that large fleets have more interest in trying out battery-electric transportation, he said International expects some interest from smaller operations.
Greenlane’s first EV truck stop opens with grand plans
On the heels of its first commercial vehicle charging hub opening in SoCal, Greenlane laid out its vision for nationwide electric truck stops.
The inaugural advanced commercial vehicle charging site opened April 24 in Colton, California, near the I-15 and I-215 interchanges. It has over 40 highspeed chargers and some amenities.
“This site is a signal to the industry of what is possible, our optimism around the future of commercial vehicle electrification, and how the industry can rely on public infrastructure for electrification success,” Patrick MacdonaldKing, chief executive of Greenlane, said during ACT Expo. “The station is the first of what will become our nationwide network.”
Nevoa, a fully electric for-hire carrier, was the first fleet customer to sign on with Greenlane. Its fleet of electric trucks begins operating out of Colton in San Bernardino County in May as it scales up to 100 commercial EVs.
Greenlane plans to build more charging sites along I-15 to create a 280-mile commercial EV charging corridor with locations 60 to 90 miles apart between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Macdonald-King said. It targets future sites along that corridor and for drayage operations between the Port of Long Beach and the Inland Empire.
The CEO said Greenlane plans to announce its next charging corridor this spring. Founded earlier this decade by a three-way partnership of Daimler Truck North America, NextEra Energy Resources, and BlackRock, its mission is to create a nationwide network of zero-emission charging and hydrogen refueling services for medium- and heavy-duty battery-electric and fuel cell trucks. Its initial announced focus was on the West Coast, Texas, and the Northeast.
Plus completes driverless trucking tests
Autonomous trucking company Plus announced that its autonomous virtual driver completed its first totally driverless validation tests on a closed track.
The company’s leaders said that the virtual driver SuperDrive flawlessly performed maneuvers on a highspeed test track in East Liberty, Ohio.
SuperDrive ran validation tests on Ohio’s 7.5-mile test track, but the latest announcement is the driver’s first operation with nobody in the truck. The driver’s tests include pulling over to the shoulder, safe stops, simulated device failures, and more.
The tests are the first driver-out runs that Plus will facilitate before commercial scaling. SuperDrive is already moving pilot loads in Texas, running hub-to-hub hauls among Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Plus hopes to be ready for commercialization in 2027.
Blue Bird launches electric, propane chassis
Blue Bird debuted two new commercial vehicle chassis for last-mile delivery: an electric-powered step van and a propane-powered stripped chassis.
Blue Bird’s Class 5-6 electric step van features a 178-in. wheelbase and a GVWR of up to 23,000 lb. It is powered by a 140 kWh lithium-ion battery, boasts a range of up to 130 miles, and has a full recharge time of one to 12 hours. The chassis includes safety systems such as hill hold to prevent rolling on inclines and electric creep to mimic combustion vehicles’ creep when lifting off the brake.
The propane-powered stripped chassis has a 208-in. wheelbase and a GVWR of up to 23,000 lb. The chassis uses Ford’s 7.3L V8 engine, producing 335 hp and a torque of up to 468 lb.-ft. The fuel tank can hold up to 45 gallons of HD-5 propane.
Harbinger’s hybrid work truck can go 500 miles
Hybrid powertrain technology is taking off in automotive, but hasn’t found a place in trucking. Chassis start-up Harbinger believes it can change that.
“Electrification isn’t a single solution, it’s a spectrum,” John Harris, co-founder and chief executive of Harbinger, said while standing on one of his chassis during ACT Expo.
The company introduced a new medium-duty plug-in hybrid vehicle featuring a gas-powered range extender that charges the battery, creating longer range between charges.
“You get the same electric performance, instant torque, smooth handling—but with the benefit of up to 500 miles of range to give you the confidence to go farther,” Harris said during ACT. “With this range, we’re extending electrification to a whole new array of use cases.” FO
Improving routes despite
DATA DELUGE
Some useful data points are more obvious than others.
by Jeremy Wolfe
Fleet operations today generate and consume incomprehensible volumes of data on a daily basis. Real-time data from trucks, tractors, trailers, and drivers can overwhelm even the most tech-savvy carriers. But knowing which of those data points matter most can vastly improve a eet’s routing ef ciency.
“This industry has drowned in data for decades,” Brian Antonellis, SVP of eet operations at Fleet Advantage, told FleetOwner. “But, truly told, it piles up in the system.”
A typical telematics system will send up to 30 data points every ve seconds to ve minutes, according to Tim Haynes, VP of digital and customer data for Penske Transportation Solutions.
That data still has great potential for routing. Although the re hose of information may feel overwhelming at times, eets can always start on the lower rungs of an optimization ladder and work their way up to more advanced rungs.
Basic optimization might mean incorporating customers’ preferred delivery times or steering away from inclement
weather. Fleets may begin aggregating the data through transportation management systems or even a bespoke in-house platform such as the one developed by Quality Custom Distribution. Eventually, however, further optimization needs more speci c data. The eet’s speci c operations become more relevant, and even the trailer becomes an essential source of information for routing.
Optimization means data Route planning can better analyze the likely costs and optimizations of
countless possible routes. As Antonellis defines it, “It’s understanding where you’re running and your valuable miles versus invaluable miles.”
The practice is even more valuable with recent improvements in technology and data management. The growing use of telematics systems and electronic logging devices over the last decade generated plenty of location and operational data. But while acquiring data was easy for a long time, fleets couldn’t always afford to put the numbers to work. The overhead cost of in-house data analysis
to save pennies every few miles was not always worthwhile.
“People recognize that, left to their own devices, drivers will take what they perceive to be the easiest route, not the most efficient,” Antonellis said. “But to hire a large team to grind the data all the time and figure that out—it’s expensive and didn’t really seem like it was worth it.”
As crafted algorithms and machine learning architectures find more applications in transportation, data analysis is becoming easier for carriers. And as rising operating expenses threaten margins, those pennies on the mile make a much bigger difference.
“In a time that we’re in now, where trucking is slightly depressed, everybody’s looking for areas of efficiency and to improve what they’re doing,” Antonellis said.
Fleets are optimizing routes for various outcomes: to find the best possible fuel pricing, improve delivery time, cut idle time, reduce driver fatigue, avoid congestion, and any other goal an executive can imagine.
Trailer data improves dispatching
One unlikely source of data for optimizing routing and dispatching is the trailer—when it’s stopped.
The use of smart trailer technology extends beyond asset tracking. It can help inform the efficiency of loading and unloading, as well as dynamic less-thantruckload dispatching.
“You can add more intelligence into route optimization, and smart trailer technology is one of those paths,” Mark Wallin, general manager and SVP of products for Phillips Connect, told FleetOwner
Phillips Connect utilizes smart trailer data to supplement traditional telematics, enhancing fleets’ operations and maintenance. It offers more than basic trailer tracking, bringing real-time information on liftgate batteries, tires, brakes, and more. The company’s sensors and dedicated cameras can capture
detailed trailer data such as door open/ close events, trailer fullness, and unloading activities. Now utilizing AI tools, the company can even use cameras to infer the trailer’s total floor space and available volume.
Investigating stop time
Phillips Connect does not provide its own route optimization solution, but its solutions are used more and more to enhance dynamic dispatching and route management. The company’s trailer data is particularly useful for optimizing stops in less-than-truckload operations.
“When you look at optimization, there’s only a few knobs,” Wallin explained. “How many customers, the priorities, the route, and stop time … The more you’re able to understand about that stop time, the more insights you have.”
Imagine an LTL fleet using telematics data to observe its average stop times at customer destinations. The average stop took 20 minutes, but some stops took 30 or even 45 minutes. In the past, learning more about the longer stops might have required the fleet to individually ask drivers or customers about the events of each stop, resulting in the fleet receiving only vague, qualitative responses for a data-focused problem.
“Before this technology was available, when I would work with a food and beverage company, all we had was a stop, and I knew it took 30 minutes,” Wallin said. “It drove me nuts, not knowing what was happening during those 30 minutes.”
Precise monitoring of the trailer can illuminate the dark corners of stops. Maybe the fleet’s driver stops at the destination, ready to unload, but no one opens the trailer doors for 30 minutes, Wallin suggested. That is an opportunity for investigation and improvement.
“We’re going beyond just the stop times; we’re giving them insights. What were they doing during that stop?” Wallin asked. “Now I can tell you from when you stopped to when the doors
Photo: Vadim Georgiev | 127728257, Aleksandar Malivuk, 1465599926 | Shutterstrock
on the trailers were opened to when you start unloading the trailer.”
Granular trailer data can show how long unloading took and even share pictures of the unloading process. Phillips Connect distributes its data through APIs, allowing integration with any number of transportation management systems.
Smooth dynamic dispatching
For one of the company’s LTL customer eets—a major beverage company— exible dispatching required slow, manual communication. After receiving a new order, the eet needed to call drivers to ask where they were and if they had space for an additional order. Integrating trailer monitoring software into a eet management system helped smooth out the eet’s routing and dispatching.
“Now, once they’d integrated that into the software, it’s all done by the software, optimizing who can pick them up with the capacity: They’re 30% full, they have two orders left, and where they’re located,” Wallin explained.
Trailer monitoring solutions can pair cameras with machine learning to infer the trailer’s used floor space and available volume. Source: Phillips Connect
Routing for specific duty cycles
Route optimization lives and breathes data, but some data types are more plentiful than others. Weather data can be relatively easy to gather; collecting information about private roads’ size and weight restrictions is tougher.
AI in route optimization
Route
optimization means data analysis, which means artificial intelligence is increasingly important for finding the best routes.
Though the term AI is nebulous, most heavy-duty truck fleets are now adopting the technology, according to a recent Fleet Advantage survey on AI adoption among Class 8 fleets. Of 2,500 fleet respondents, 61% have a “partial adoption” of AI in their operations, and 38% are exploring “limited experimentation.”
By far the most popular area of AI utilization, according to the survey, is route planning: 43% of respondents used AI for route optimization.
“As good as it gets, it almost gets that bad. We’re just coming out of the bottom—everybody’s looking for e ciencies,” Brian Antonellis, SVP of fleet operations at Fleet Advantage, said. “The only way you can get through the challenging time is to innovate your way out.”
According to a 2024 Penske survey, most shippers and 3PLs feel that using AI for route optimization is highly important.
NextBillion.ai is a route optimization provider particularly suited for multistop operations. The company claims that what sets it apart is that it supports more granular operational needs.
Most route optimization solutions are designed for simpler use cases, utilizing
According to a Fleet Advantage survey from this year, route optimization is the most popular use of AI among heavy-duty truck fleets. Source: Fleet Advantage
Machine learning applications have great potential for pickup and delivery, where irregular routes can be optimized without delay. One application of AI-powered route planning is to compare the actual routes from trucks’ telematics devices against the routing program’s original plan. A program can analyze whether the truck diverted from its plan, any ine ciencies in the route, the e ects of local tra c patterns at certain times, and more.
public roadway information. NextBillion said it uses that information but also supports more challenging data applications for segments including construction, oil and gas, and bulk transport.
In applications like construction, the weight and dimensions of the truck can more often impact their available routes. Routes for oil and gas regularly take place on private estates with less available road information. For waste fleets, optimum routes might depend on whether their trucks use manual or automated trash loading.
Fine-tuned for crisis transportation
OK Ride Care is an Oklahoma-based secure car service that primarily provides agency-to-agency mental health and substance abuse disorder transport, focusing on consumer empowerment, wellness, recovery, and human dignity. The company provides crisis transportation in partnership with the Oklahoma
Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, local hospital systems, mental health facilities, law enforcement, and more.
Ride Care began in 2021, servicing 55 state counties with 10 cars. Today, the company services the entire state of Oklahoma—and parts of Kansas and Louisiana—with a growing fleet of 90 vehicles and drivers. The company began to accommodate scheduled services in late 2023, helping people travel to and from appointments. They quickly identified a need for route optimization.
“One minute, our staff was pasting trips together on sticky notes, and the next day, they were working half the night to make the trips work,” David Roberts, CEO of Ride Care, told FleetOwner. “We immediately started seeking processes and platforms that would leverage our workforce more effectively.”
There was, however, a challenge in finding the right platform for Ride Care
because of its unique duty cycle. A few months later, the company started working with NextBillion.ai.
“We had needs and constraints that NextBillion hadn’t dealt with before, and their support staff made changes that helped us accomplish the goal of moving people to get the help they need,” Roberts said.
Ride Care was able to work with NextBillion to improve routing, tailored specifically for their sensitive operations.
“Now we have a team of people who meet at 7 p.m. to collate and optimize the next day’s trips,” Roberts explained.
“In less than two hours, our drivers have their assignments, and they start picking up their first riders by 6 a.m. the next morning.”
With the help of technological capabilities like route optimization, Ride Care continues to grow its operations today, facilitating between 4,000 and 6,000 transports each month. FO
by Gary Petty
Keep your fleet safe and winning
NPTC Annual Safety Conference returns to Orlando this fall
THE NPTC NATIONAL Safety Conference, scheduled for September 3-5 at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate, is an intense, full two-day educational forum that offers a unique format of expert presentations, problem-solving safety-in-the-round breakout sessions, driver recognition, and exceptional networking opportunities. The event provides attendees with insights and implementable solutions for strategic safety and security answers to the greatest challenges facing today’s private eets.
Gain strategic safety and security insights and implementable solutions for the most significant challenges facing today’s private fleets.
Topics and speakers represent the most relevant and up-to-date safety information available in the industry. The opening general session will begin with an expert panel discussing the private eet industry’s major safety priorities: building a culture of safety, effective driver coaching strategies, scorecarding driver safety performance, and other key points of discussion.
Topics covered in the safety-in-theround breakout sessions will be driver reward and recognition, data integration strategies, driver performance standards, building the case for the ROI of premium spec’ing, alternative energy vehicles, and the advantages of recruiting from within.
Data presented from NPTC’s 2025 Benchmarking Survey Report by EVP Tom Moore, CTP, analyzes key performance metrics related to private eet safety. Attendees will learn how and why private eets continue to average low Department of Transportation recordable accidents per million miles—a record three times safer than the overall trucking industry.
Rick Schweitzer, NPTC general counsel and government affairs representative, will present a live edition of the Washington Report, sponsored by Centerline Drivers. This legislative and regulatory update highlights issues of importance to private eets, emphasizing safety-related issues.
NPTC’s National Driver All-Stars recognition program, sponsored by International, will be held on September 4. More than 25 drivers from a wide range of private eet member companies will be honored this year. Some 325 drivers have been recognized as National Driver All-Stars over the past 15 years.
The awards are presented to drivers who have demonstrated exemplary performance compared to their peers throughout the country in areas such as customer service, safety, adherence to company policies, regulatory compliance, and community service. To become an All-Star honoree, candidates must demonstrate characteristics, skills, and attitudes that enable their private eet to deliver exceptional service along with top safety performance and world-class operational standards.
Feedback from attendees at the 2024 National Safety Conference consists mainly of rave reviews. “The show was great with excellent speakers and breakout sessions. It was awesome seeing the turnout and observing how receptive people are to the experts describing their stories of safety excellence. This was one of the best exhibitions at an industry trade show I have ever seen. The member contacts were fantastic. We were very impressed with the results and are all in for 2025.”
David Barth, CTP, chair of the NPTC Board of Directors and transportation safety manager of Wegman’s Food Markets, said, “I attended my rst council safety conference in 2009 and have returned many years since. Participation has more than doubled in 15 years. Repeat attendees coming back year after year are joined by many new rst-timers. This is testimony to the value they discover from networking and from sharing with the best safety leaders in the industry.”
Kate Mirise, CTP, transportation manager of The Royal Group and chair of the NPTC Safety Committee, said: “This is the premier safety summit of the private eet world. Its purpose is to learn about proven safety management protocols, benchmarking metrics, breakthrough technologies, and the most innovative tools eets are using to stay at the top in safety performance.”
NPTC’s National Safety Conference is designed to help your eet stay on a winning path of continuous improvement and optimal safety results for the long haul. FO
Gary Petty | gpetty@nptc.org
Gary Petty has more than 30 years of experience as CEO of national trade associations in the trucking industry. He has been the president and CEO of the National Private Truck Council since 2001.
Advancing fleet intelligence
Modern Transportation is earning a reputation for cutting-edge solutions
by Seth Skydel
While the use of artificial intelligence in transportation management is growing, some fleets are more readily adopting management systems that employ the latest technologies.
“We have a solid appetite for automation and increased use of AI,” Patrick Cozzens, president of Modern Transportation, said. “The possibilities for adding functionality that save time and lower costs have driven our interest in understanding where these new applications will have great value.”
Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Modern Transportation (MT) specializes in trucking and logistics services for chemical, liquid and dry bulk, industrial, manufacturing, construction, and more. The carrier’s more than 350 drivers operate from 22 terminals in 13 states.
Dan Benacquista, VP of strategic operations and planning at MT, noted several challenges drove the search for a new type of TMS. Included were physical trip sheets and scale tickets causing lost revenue from under-invoicing.
“We also had high costs and administrative time from extensive manual verification processes around accessorial pay, and equipment compatibility and dispatch assignments, including two to three hours of time weekly to calculate driver pay and customer bills,” Benacquista said. “In addition, growth demanded an automated solution for accurately applying fuel surcharges.”
In September 2024, MT implemented the BeyondTrucks multi-tenant TMS at 20 terminals. The cloud-based solution, which integrated with the carrier’s EBE Technologies enterprise management and Vector yard management software, replaced an existing on-premise TMS.
BeyondTrucks also enabled integrations with Samsara on-board technology, Microsoft Power BI software,
With its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Modern Transportation’s more than 350 drivers operate from 22 terminals in 13 states. Photo: Modern Transportation
Great Plains accounting systems, TMT maintenance software, UKG workforce management software, and EDI systems that were in place at Modern Transportation. The TMS allowed the company to upgrade its technology, including migrating its ERP/accounting system to Acumatica, its ELD to Platform Science, and the fleet’s payroll system to Paylocity.
“By combining system integrations, proprietary modules, and adaptable configurations that unify data and workflows, the BeyondTrucks TMS reduces our administrative time for load building, payroll, dispatch, and billing processes,” Benacquista explained. “At a lower cost for hosting and updates, it is automating and optimizing our operations management.”
According to Benacquista, BeyondTrucks TMS provided the company with additional functionality, such as automated compatibility checks for driver and equipment assignments; driver workflow orchestration; hierarchical rating engine capability; activity-based payroll; data warehousing for Microsoft Power BI applications; and workflow management tools for field data validation, rejections, and corrections.
MT is also using the BeyondTrucks integration with Breakthrough Fuel Recovery to automate fuel surcharges.
“Traditional fuel surcharge calculations that rely on national or regional average fuel prices often resulted in discrepancies between our actual fuel costs and benchmark rates, leading to inefficient load acceptance decisions and potential over and underpayment by shippers,” Benacquista said. “With one of our largest customers using Breakthrough Fuel Recovery as well, manually incorporating fuel surcharges for their shipments was simply not sustainable. Now, after applying fuel surcharges individually for about 50 shipments per month, we’re using the new integration on hundreds of transactions each day.”
Cozzens noted that MT achieved about $5 million in annual savings thanks to the new TMS and more effective business processes. The savings come from reduced revenue losses by eliminating invoice errors and asset under-utilization, lower cloud-based hosting costs, updates and bolt-on solutions, and less administrative time.
“The solutions and processes we’ve continued to implement have been sophisticated and cutting-edge,” Cozzens said. “That goes hand in hand with our long-standing approach to adopting and creating innovative and modern service solutions, which was the motivation behind the naming of our company.” FO
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J.B. HUNT HONORS 54 DRIVERS FOR MILLION-MILE SAFETY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
by Jenna Hume
J.B. Hunt Transport Services honored 54 company drivers in May for achieving two, three, and four million miles driven without a preventable accident during its annual Million Mile Celebration at company headquarters in Lowell, Arkansas.
Each year, J.B. Hunt hosts the new class of Million Mile drivers and their families at corporate headquarters for a multiday celebration featuring an awards ceremony with live entertainment, engaging discussions with company leadership, and the Million Mile Walk of Fame, a 24-year annual tradition.
“When we talk about the best of the best, we’re talking about the people here this week,” Nick Hobbs, COO for J.B. Hunt, said during the company’s Million Mile Walk of Fame. “Last year, we surpassed our own company safety record set in 2023 for reducing Department of Transportation preventable accidents. These drivers are essential for that progress by the example they set and the knowledge and training they share. This is their Million Mile moment, and I’m proud, humbled, and honored that they choose to drive with J.B. Hunt.”
This year’s Million Mile drivers and their families, led by an emphatic entrance from the Bentonville West High School marching band, made their way along a 300-ft. red carpet that spanned two buildings. They were first greeted by the company’s executive leadership team, who thanked each for their long-term commitment to safety excellence and expressed how grateful they are to have them as part of the J.B. Hunt family. The remainder of the Walk of Fame featured cheers and highfives from thousands of company employees, customers, investors, and guests who lined the red carpet to celebrate.
With this year’s class, J.B. Hunt surpassed 5,000 company drivers to achieve at least one million safe miles. In addition, this year’s group included five drivers who achieved four million safe miles. All Million Mile drivers’ names are etched into the Million Mile Wall at corporate headquarters. On average, it takes a driver approximately seven to 10 years to accumulate one million safe miles. FO
Photos: J.B. Hunt
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